The invention relates to methods, systems and apparatus for computerized preparation of tax returns; and more particularly, to new methods, systems and apparatus for associating tax data with a tax entity.
Computerized (also referred to as “electronic”) tax return preparation applications (also referred to as tax preparation applications) have become very popular and allow a user, such as a taxpayer or a tax professional, to prepare and electronically file a tax return using a computing device (e.g. personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone, etc.). The tax preparation application may be a desktop application that resides and operates on the computer operated by the user or an online application that resides on a server that is accessible by the user's computer via a network such as the internet. The interface for a server based application can be an internet browser or specialized software residing on the local computer. There are a number of examples of desktop software applications and online tax preparation applications for preparing tax returns.
Whether a desktop application or an online application, the use of the application to prepare a computerized tax return is basically the same. For example, certain tax preparation applications present a list of tax-related questions or data entry fields to the user as a series of interview screens or fillable forms, in response to which the user enters the appropriate data or answers if they are known. For example, certain interview screens or questions may relate to personal and family information such as the user's social security number, marital status, number of dependents, etc. Other interview screens and questions may relate to the taxpayer's finances such as wages, retirement plan contributions, and social security, state and federal taxes that were paid or withheld as provided in Form-W2.
The data fields of an electronic tax return may be entered in many other ways, as well. For example, data may be entered into the electronic tax return by filling in data fields in a fillable form. Tax data for completing the data fields of an electronic tax return may also be electronically accessed from financial service providers of the taxpayer (such as banks, stock brokers, financial planners, etc.); tax related documents, such as prior year tax returns, tax forms (e.g., W-2s, 1099s-1099-B, 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, etc.), may be electronically accessed and tax data extracted from the documents; and tax related documents may be scanned with relevant tax data being automatically extracted using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) techniques. Tax data may also be transferred from another database on the computer or remotely stored on a different computer or storage device/server, and/or the data may be transferred from a previous year's tax return, or from any other suitable source. Each of the instances of sources of tax data are referred to herein as a “tax data item,” which simply means an electronic document or data file having tax data.
Further, an electronic tax return may be a business or corporate return, and the tax data fields may, for example, relate to payments and benefits such as contributions to a retirement plan. Thus, data fields may relate to travel expenses or determinations of expenses or portions of expenses that are deductible.
Upon entry of all of the taxpayer data, the tax preparation application prepares an electronic tax return. The electronic tax return is then processed and formatted into an electronic tax return data file according to the requirements and specifications of the pertinent tax agency to which the tax return is being filed. Finally, the electronic tax return data file is filed with the appropriate tax authority such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a state tax authority (e.g. California Franchise Tax Board), city tax authority, or other tax collecting agency, by transmitting the electronic tax return data file to the tax authority. Alternatively, the tax return data file can used to create a paper forms submission in which the tax return forms are printed and then submitted to the appropriate tax authority.
Upon receipt of the electronic tax return data file, the tax agency typically runs a validation on the data file to check for certain errors in the tax return. If the tax agency detects error(s), then the tax return submission is rejected, and a rejection message and an error message identifying the errors may be sent to the submitter of the tax return.
As described above, in many cases, the tax data obtained by the tax return preparation application needs to be associated with a particular tax entity. However, in some situations, tax data is obtained in which the owner of the tax data is not specified to the tax return system, or it would be more efficient to automatically determine the owner of the tax data and associate the tax data with a particular tax entity.